Briars, Weeds, Pain...
I've pondered this for the last week before I could actually bring myself to post. God does incredible things in my life (and yours). Sometimes we don't see it or we don't appreciate the lesson he's teaching us and sometimes it's sometimes just too stinkin' hard and we push it away in denial. I'm guilty of all of these responses at one time or another.
I really enjoy working in my yard. I love change and flowers and beautiful color. I love change so much that a couple years ago I had every single shrub pulled up out of my yard. They were big and I just wanted a do-over. We sometimes wish we had that in life too; a do-over. Anyway, I had one particular bed that I'd put a tremendous amount of time into several years ago but it'd been overrun by briars, weeds and grass. The flowers that I'd planted had gotten so thick that they just laid down on the ground. It was a mess and I just couldn't stand to look at it and I really didn't want to deal with it. So I didn't... The longer I avoided, the worse it got. Stay with me here. I'm going somewhere with this and I believe we can all relate.
Last Saturday, I just jumped in, I didn't even plan on it...it just happened. I started pulling some weeds in another bed and I just kept going. I ended up in the very place I'd been avoiding for so long. Sometimes life is just like that, isn't it?! Let me take it a step further...sometimes relationships in our life are like that! Sometimes we see ugliness, things that irritate us, areas that need change and realize that addressing any of this might cost us pain. Sometimes it's easier to just look the other way and say "I'll deal with it another day". Let me just say, I'm preaching to the choir on this one. I'm as guilty as anyone on this matter.
As I was pulling weeds and digging up briars with my shovel The Lord was reminding me of how guilty I'd been at avoiding things and people in my life that have been difficult. Relationships that I'd been hurt in before and relationships that I'd put up walls as a means of protection. I'd always say, I'll deal with it or them another day. I'd avoided the flower bed because the ground was too hard, I needed rain to make my labor less intensive. Regardless of how much rain we'd have gotten, that job would still have been hard. I immediately went to chopping down every single flower. I needed to clear things out, get all of those drooping greens out of my way so I could deal with the matter at hand. I knew that eventually they'd be even more beautiful; because the grass & briars were gone and because I'd thinned them out. Did I love doing that, getting blisters, sweating profusely and being scratched by thorns? NO! I absolutely hated it! But as I dug and worked, the Lord continued to remind me of the real lesson at hand. There have been people in my life that I just couldn't deal with. I was afraid to get scratched again. I was afraid that dealing with certain issues was going to be too hard or too painful. I was afraid to put myself out there and be hurt, yet again. The Lord reminded me, that like my messed up flower bed, life is sometimes messed up. If I just sat back and watched the weeds and briars grow, they'd keep on growing, sort of like fear or anger in our hearts. Left alone, it grows and takes over.
I've taken the steps in my flower bed AND in my personal life. I can't control the outcome any more than I can control the resurgence of weeds in my flower bed but I know that if I don't keep the weeds pulled, they'll take over. If I don't address the hard things in life as they come up, they'll also take over. The battle is hard, the pain may be present but the outcome can be beautiful. If you have a relationship that you're struggling with, deal with it. Sometimes your efforts will leave you hurt and scratched but you don't know unless you try.
Thanks for taking the time to read a post that is a bit more personal. If you have something you'd like to share or something I can pray about for you, please feel free to share or message me.
I really enjoy working in my yard. I love change and flowers and beautiful color. I love change so much that a couple years ago I had every single shrub pulled up out of my yard. They were big and I just wanted a do-over. We sometimes wish we had that in life too; a do-over. Anyway, I had one particular bed that I'd put a tremendous amount of time into several years ago but it'd been overrun by briars, weeds and grass. The flowers that I'd planted had gotten so thick that they just laid down on the ground. It was a mess and I just couldn't stand to look at it and I really didn't want to deal with it. So I didn't... The longer I avoided, the worse it got. Stay with me here. I'm going somewhere with this and I believe we can all relate.
Last Saturday, I just jumped in, I didn't even plan on it...it just happened. I started pulling some weeds in another bed and I just kept going. I ended up in the very place I'd been avoiding for so long. Sometimes life is just like that, isn't it?! Let me take it a step further...sometimes relationships in our life are like that! Sometimes we see ugliness, things that irritate us, areas that need change and realize that addressing any of this might cost us pain. Sometimes it's easier to just look the other way and say "I'll deal with it another day". Let me just say, I'm preaching to the choir on this one. I'm as guilty as anyone on this matter.
As I was pulling weeds and digging up briars with my shovel The Lord was reminding me of how guilty I'd been at avoiding things and people in my life that have been difficult. Relationships that I'd been hurt in before and relationships that I'd put up walls as a means of protection. I'd always say, I'll deal with it or them another day. I'd avoided the flower bed because the ground was too hard, I needed rain to make my labor less intensive. Regardless of how much rain we'd have gotten, that job would still have been hard. I immediately went to chopping down every single flower. I needed to clear things out, get all of those drooping greens out of my way so I could deal with the matter at hand. I knew that eventually they'd be even more beautiful; because the grass & briars were gone and because I'd thinned them out. Did I love doing that, getting blisters, sweating profusely and being scratched by thorns? NO! I absolutely hated it! But as I dug and worked, the Lord continued to remind me of the real lesson at hand. There have been people in my life that I just couldn't deal with. I was afraid to get scratched again. I was afraid that dealing with certain issues was going to be too hard or too painful. I was afraid to put myself out there and be hurt, yet again. The Lord reminded me, that like my messed up flower bed, life is sometimes messed up. If I just sat back and watched the weeds and briars grow, they'd keep on growing, sort of like fear or anger in our hearts. Left alone, it grows and takes over.
I've taken the steps in my flower bed AND in my personal life. I can't control the outcome any more than I can control the resurgence of weeds in my flower bed but I know that if I don't keep the weeds pulled, they'll take over. If I don't address the hard things in life as they come up, they'll also take over. The battle is hard, the pain may be present but the outcome can be beautiful. If you have a relationship that you're struggling with, deal with it. Sometimes your efforts will leave you hurt and scratched but you don't know unless you try.
Thanks for taking the time to read a post that is a bit more personal. If you have something you'd like to share or something I can pray about for you, please feel free to share or message me.
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